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The sum of these constitutes an Ecological Footprint indicator. Ecological Footprint measures how much land and sea area a human population requires to sustain its prevailing way of living. Several aggregated indicators are capable of monitoring the life-cycle environmental impact of natural resource use Ecological Footprint is one. Thus, the challenges demand that aggregate, life-cycle indicators be developed. Second, they should consider environmental impacts in the entire life cycle of resource use. First, they should address environmental impacts of a broad spectrum of resource use thus, aggregate indicators are necessary. However, finding suitable indicators for such resource use represents two main challenges ( Best et al., 2008). Reducing environmental impacts through sustainable use of natural resources is an important strategy for governments and businesses worldwide. Holden, in International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home, 2012 Introduction It also repealed certain rate increases that have already gone into effect and provided refunds to those policyholders ( National Association of Insurance Commissioners, n.d.).Į. However, on March 21, 2014, President Obama signed the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 into law, which repealed and modified certain BW-12 provisions and lowered the rate increases on some policies, prevented some future rate increases, and implemented a surcharge on all policyholders. One of the objectives of this legislation was to increase the rates to reflect true flood risk, as well as make the program more financially stable. On July 6, 2012, President Barack Obama signed into law the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12), which reauthorized the NFIP and made a number of reforms aimed at making the program more financially and structurally sound. “The purpose of the Reform Act is to increase compliance with flood insurance requirements and participation in the NFIP in order to provide additional income to the National Flood Insurance Fund and to decrease the financial burden of flooding on the federal government, taxpayers, and flood victims.” 2 The Reform Act also applied flood insurance requirements directly to the loans purchased by agencies that provide government insurance or guarantees, such as the Small Business Administration, Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the Veterans Administration ( FDIC, n.d.). The National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 (Reform Act) comprehensively revised the federal flood insurance statutes. Flooding in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans after Hurricane Betsy. Besides regulatory compliance, it befits an agency to reduce environmental impacts in order to pollute less, protect natural resources, and reduce liability and save costly impacts to budgets.įigure 2.7.
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Both train and bus operations have significant environmental issues to manage on an on-going continuous basis. Mass transit, as a result of the operations and maintenance of infrastructure, facilities, and vehicles, has numerous potential environmental impacts to manage, including air pollution and greenhouse gas from energy use, noise, and vibrations, water discharges, waste removal of passenger trash, harmful materials such as lead-based paint, mercury, PCBs, asbestos, contaminated soil, and groundwater. Several successful reductions in pollution levels have been attributed to stricter regulations, including levels of carbon monoxide and more recent reduction in fine particulate matter. Most adverse environmental impacts also have a direct link to public health and quality of life issues. Pollution, contamination, or destruction that occurs as a consequence of an action, that can have short-term or long-term ramifications is considered an environmental impact. Thomas Abdallah, in Sustainable Mass Transit, 2017 ConclusionĮnvironmental impacts are changes in the natural or built environment, resulting directly from an activity, that can have adverse effects on the air, land, water, fish, and wildlife or the inhabitants of the ecosystem.